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Year 2000 on the
web: 'Clicks and mortar' traders take the lead in e-commerce Year 2000 was not a good one for e-commerce companies. Of the at least 210 dot-coms that ceased their operations, 55 per cent were e-commerce companies. Webmergers.com, which is tracking internet enterprises, say that three out of four failed companies were in the business to consumer (B2C) sector. Altogether 15,000 jobs were lost through these closures. The electronic bubble economy burst last year as most e-commerce companies failed to meet investors’ expectations of fast returns. Huge amounts were pumped into web traders, most of which spent their capital at an incredible speed but were unable to start generating profits. Investors’ patience ran out and share prices plummeted. UK-based Boo.com was the first high profile casualty as it ran out of money in the spring. Before the end of the year, it had been followed by many others, including Garden.com and Furniture.com. At the end of the year, the number two toy e-tailer eToys.com ran into trouble and started to pull out of Europe in an effort to save its American operation. Not even the fourteen per cent increase of Nasdaq high tech share prices on 3 January 2001, when U.S. interest rates were cut, brought back e-commerce company values to earlier levels. Also Amazon.com, world's leading e-trader, was way down from its market value in the early months of last year. Enter the traditional retailers But year 2000 was not only a year of trouble for e-commerce. It also saw the forceful entry into Internet trade of traditional retailers, the bricks and mortars companies. Business to business (B2B) applications took big steps forward. Internet-based market places were created for sourcing and purchasing and all major players soon signed up. By the end of the year, every large self-respecting retailer had established an Internet B2C sales channel. Multi-channel retailing became the word of the day. The United States Christmas sales are probably as good an indicator as any when the success or failure of e-commerce is assessed. Although Amazon.com still retained the top position, helped out by its alliance with Toys"R"Us, the web sites of traditional retailers such as Kmart, Wal-Mart and book seller Barnes and Noble scored very high up on the list. On the trade union side, last year marked the beginning of serious efforts in the United States to organise in the dot-coms. The campaign in Amazon.com, where UFCW as well as the communication workers and journalists are involved, has attracted quite some attention. Like so often in the United States, management is strongly opposed to unionisation. One can probably predict that multi-channel traders will play the leading role also in e-commerce in the future, benefiting from their well-known brand names, distribution networks and established shop-keeper skills. Uni Commerce focus on e-commerce For Uni Commerce, 2001 will be a year of active work with e-commerce issues. In April, a major European social dialogue project on e-commerce training comes to an end. An agreement on teleworkers' rights with EuroCommerce has been negotiated, but the employers are still debating whether to ratify it. In Asia and the Pacific, the commerce committee meeting in February will focus on the employment effects of e-commerce.
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